


defecting ain't nothing but a line change

by cactusparade



Category: Far Cry 5
Genre: Gen, another cult rook au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-10-22 02:33:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17654381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cactusparade/pseuds/cactusparade
Summary: "Outside the sun is setting, dying rays of light warming his stretched legs where it shines in through the curtainless window, the world continuing on despite Rook’s internal struggle. His stay here has been one impulsive decision after another; it almost feels inevitable that Rook would end up at this crossroad. Except that as he plans ways to get to Joseph’s compound without bodily injury, it feels like the least impulsive thing he’s ever done in his life."





	defecting ain't nothing but a line change

**Author's Note:**

> Cult!Rook is the only thing that inspires me so have another one!
> 
> Not beta'd

Rook feels like he’s losing his mind. It’s been six months. Six long months with no end in sight, and every day he’s forced to stay in Hope County is another day his anger builds until he feels feral with it, his esophagus scraped raw from swallowing it down when dealing with Resistance members. The Resistance thinks they control him, tries to keep him on a short leash, but they don’t realize that that leash is fraying. He’s not loyal to them, never was, and he doesn’t want to stick around long enough to see himself get there. They want to believe they can reign in his blood lust, that they wield the weapon he has become, but Rook has started to realize that he can do what he wants. Which nowadays means helping the Resistance less and less. Rook’s starting to understand how a cult could take over the entire county when every person he talks to seems like a grown child. This is incredibly evident to him when the priorities of Hope County residents are so skewed; they have him looking for lighters and baseball cards instead of planning to take back outposts, and that more than anything signals to him that he can’t save these people.

He’s laying low in Holland Valley after a week in the Henbane, Bliss so deep in his system it’s amazing he wasn’t killed when every day was just a long series of hallucinations. Before that, Rook did two weeks in the Whitetails, stuffed full of Jacob’s song until blood dripped from his nose and ears. His leg still hurts from a capture party’s Bliss arrow, his range of motion limited because he was running trials and fighting off Judges when it should’ve been healing. Rook may be Marked in the Valley, but he’s gotten good at hiding from cult air support.

He relaxes on somewhat clean sheets, thinks about what he saw when he was in the Bliss. Joseph’s speech, a world on fire. The prophesied Collapse, witnessed firsthand. Rook knows Faith and the Bliss aren’t to be trusted, but the vision watered a seed that had been planted the moment the helicopter crashed: what if Joseph is right? What if Rook is destroying the only thing that can save everyone? What if Rook is being violent for violence’s sake? That thought stops him cold; him joining the police force was supposed to be a way for him to do good despite the apathy and disinterest that clung to him like a shroud. If he wasn’t even doing that anymore, what’s the point of him staying here? 

He thinks… thinks maybe he could end some of this bloodshed if he joined the cult. John’s messages have been less angry lately, more gentle and coaxing, and Rook hates to admit to himself that it’s swaying him more than John could possibly realize. Hates that soft words and promises of a regular place to sleep at night could get him to become part of a group that kills without hesitation. Just because he isn’t loyal to the Resistance doesn’t mean he wants to swear allegiance to a cult, except this county must be breaking his moral compass because that _is_ what he wants.

He’s always wanted to be special - never making the podium compared to his older brothers - and that’s exactly what Joseph and his family are offering, and it looks like he can’t quite kick his self-destructive tendencies when someone’s presenting him with a gold medal for the first time in his life.

Outside the sun is setting, dying rays of light warming his stretched legs where it shines in through the curtain-less window, the world continuing on despite Rook’s internal struggle. His stay here has been one impulsive decision after another; it almost feels inevitable that Rook would end up at this crossroad. Except that as he plans ways to get to Joseph’s compound without bodily injury, it feels like the least impulsive thing he’s ever done in his life. 

***

Joseph hasn’t ever contacted Rook on the radio, so the next morning he thinks about ways he could contact him to let him know of his plan to join the Project. He goes back and forth on whether he should just show up or if he should contact John and have him clear a path for Rook. He decides to go with the latter because he isn’t sure the guards at the compound would believe his intentions even if he walked up unarmed. 

“John, it’s Rook. Are you there?” Other voices filter in, asking what he’s doing, and he promptly ignores them all. He knows that even if everything goes according to plan, many civilians will still become casualties in the cult’s quest to conquer everything Hope County has to offer, but he hopes that he can manage to protect some of them. Even though they used him, he understands they had no other choice. He just wishes it hadn’t come at the cost his bodily autonomy.

“Deputy. To what do I owe this unexpected surprise?” John sounds curious and slightly suspicious. Rook understands that too. He’s never been the one to talk first, hardly even answers when John pesters him day in and day out. In his defense though, he’s usually too busy fighting for his life to respond. 

“I’d like to speak to Joseph. In person. And I need you to guarantee me safe passage there.”

John’s suspicion increases exponentially. “And why would I do that?”

“I can’t explain here, which is why I need to talk to Joseph. Will you do it or not?” Rook hopes he will. He doesn’t want to try to airdrop into the compound. 

“Why should I trust you? How do I know this isn’t some kind of trick?” Despite his words, Rook knows he’s piqued John’s interest. John wants to know Rook’s endgame.

“Guess you’ll need some of that faith you guys are always preaching about.” Rook imagines John huffing to himself and smirks. “I’ll be near the Gardenview Packing Facility in 20 minutes. Trust me, you’ll wanna be there.”

“What’s one more indulgence, I suppose. 20 minutes, Deputy. I presume that I don’t have to remind you not to try anything?”

Rook laughs. “You say that like it didn’t take out your armed convoys, but you have my word that this isn’t a trick.”

Putting away his radio and collecting Boomer, Rook shoulders his backpack of supplies and gets into the car he commandeered last week. It still amazes him that someone was willing to give him their _car_ when the Resistance makes him buy his own ammo, but he supposes business doesn’t really care about the current state of the world. He also supposes it doesn’t really matter when he raids a prepper stash every few weeks. Then he realizes he won’t ever have to purchase his own weapons again once he’s part of the Project and smiles to himself.

***

Rook scopes out the convoy that rolls into the Gardenview outpost. Three cult trucks each filled with four Peggies. John himself is among them, which gives Rook pause. It’s unlike him to be out so unprotected, but he guesses that John doesn’t like to be left out of things. Whether it’s because of his competitive nature or because he suffers from youngest sibling syndrome, Rook empathizes. 

He approaches casually, Boomer at his side, no weapons drawn. He can’t say the same for the Peggies. Every single one of them aside from John has some type of automatic weapon trained on him the moment they spot him. Rook doesn’t let it deter him; he continues his steady pace until he’s about ten feet away. “You came.”

“You requested an audience with the Father. That isn’t to be taken lightly,” John says from where he’s leaning against one of the truck’s hoods.

“I know.”

When Rook says nothing more, John stands up straight. Even at his full height, Rook can tell John’s a few inches shorter than him. “Why do you want to speak with Joseph?”

“I want to join the Project.”

John’s speechless for probably the first time in his adult life. “You want to join the Project?”

Rook nods. “Why are you so surprised? Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“I didn’t think you would actually _do_ it! Joseph told us to have faith, but you were so _resistant_ , so _destructive_. Why would you-?”

“I was operating under the assumption that Confession came after I joined. Take me to Joseph and I’ll share everything then.”

After a minute of John staring hard at Rook, he nods twice and Rook walks over to the trucks to get into the same one as John. He says nothing the entire drive to the compound, just looks at Rook like he’s a puzzle that he can’t figure out. Rook relates; nothing about himself feels like it makes sense anymore, the pieces of his old life rubbing against and chipping away at who he is now. Who this place has made him into. 

All the guards who aren’t patrolling the perimeter are waiting outside Joseph’s church, weapons down but no doubt at the ready, the man in question front and center to great them as they pull up. Joseph greets John and tugs him in to press their foreheads together briefly before facing Rook directly. 

“John told me you wished to speak with me, my child?”

Rook steps closer but keeps a respectful distance in the face of so many weapons when he left his own in the truck. “That’s right.”

“And what do you wish to speak about?”

Even being in Joseph’s presence for less than a minute, Rook can feel himself being drawn in. He has this aura about him that demands attention, an aura that Rook felt all those months ago when he was putting cuffs on him. It isn’t hard to see why so many people came to him, especially if they were people looking for a purpose and a sense of community. Taking a deep breath, Rook kneels before Joseph and bows his head. Everything around him stills, Rook and the Peggies and even the wildlife.

“My name is Jonah James Rook and I’m ready to join the Project. I am ready for Atonement.”

He hears Joseph inhale deeply. He stays kneeling until Joseph gently pulls him to his feet. He looks at Rook’s face for a few moments before he smiles, a wide thing that holds only a hint of the manipulation Rook knows lies just below the surface. It doesn’t matter to Rook; he’s made his peace with all that Joseph is capable of.

“Welcome home, Rook.”

**Author's Note:**

> talk to me on tumblr [cactusparade.tumblr.com]!


End file.
